place. >> reza aslan, thanks for joining us and thanks for appearing on talk to al jazeera. ♪ ♪ this is al jazerra america live from new york city i am tony hair wisconsin a look at today's stop tories. one of the nation's largest pharmacy chains will stop selling all to be owe products. >> major roads and hundreds of schools shutdown as a winter storm moves through the east. a item report accusing the vatican of turn ailing blinds eye to sex abuse for decades but the church already fighting back. and an autopsy on philip seymour hoffman's body is inning i don't know cues i have as police

reportedly make four arrests tied to the case. ♪ ♪ huge and historic decision from one of the nation's largest chains, cvs will no longer sale to be toe products at his 7600 stores across the country. they say it could cost them $2 billion of revenue every year. john terret is in washington. it is our top story so fill in the blanks for us. >> reporter: tony, good afternoon. the first blank to fill is to to say when news came through everybody was caught by surprise. we weren't expecting this from cvs it's a surprise and a very important decision. here say giant u.s. corporation making a social, a political and a business statement all in one. go, which could well have

ramifications for many years to come. rained mark decision from the nation's second largest pharmacy chain, vcs has 7,600 stores in 43 states. its decision to stop selling all tobacco products this year could be a retail game changer. >> when we asked ourselves where we peck to be in the future as a health care company. it became clear that removing tobacco products from our stores is the right thing to do. >> reporter: cvs says its decision will cost the company around money, $2 billion, shares slipped on wall street with the news, but vcs sales account for 125 always a year$125 billion as a small piece of that. the president of the united states responding with a written statement. today's decision will help my administration's effort to his reduce tobacco related deaths, cancer and heart disease as well as bring down health care costs. the first lady tweeted, now we

can all breathe a little easier. and the health and human services secretary kathleen under the spotlight for her handling of the obama care website said today's cvs care market announcement helps bring our country closer to achieving a tobacco free generation. tobacco industry appears less than pleased. one spokesman saying we value our relationship with cvs and respect their decision. at the lung cancer alliance in washington, d.c. the news was greeted way cheer. >> bravo cvs. bravo. it was just an extraordinary and powerful statement. that will build exciting momentum that we have to really reinvigorate our war against needless tobacco death. >> now that cvs has made its decision, what will happen next? >> john, that is the question. i'll he pose it to you, you asked it of yourself, i'll repeat it right back at you. what happens next? >> reporter: it's a good

question. yeah, it's a good one, i like it. and the answer, is we are not entirely sure. let me tell what you cvsscvs on wall street is categorize the a a pharmacy chain n that category it's number two behind walgreen's okay. would he so* we turned to walgreen's to see what they will do. they said we have been looking at this idea too. they say at the very least we'll look at the position of t tobaco products on you are selfs. very little word today from the tobacco companies themselves. they don't need to comment on this sort of thing. as you say in my report there, one spokesperson saying they respect cvs's decision. beyond that not much news. the reason for that is tobacco companies don't look to the united states to grow their businesses, the mark is pretty settled here, if not diminishing for the reasons we are reporting on today. they look to third world companies, developing countries, lat run america, china, asia, where smoking is still extremely popular. >> all right, john, john terret for us in washington, d.c. thank you. smoking remains a huge public

health concern for every smoker who dies, at least two young people pick up the habit. i did not know that. and a yes cent trend is troubling some activists, jordan betz is here with that. >> smoking is a big problem in the united states. it kills a half a million people nay year. a tenths of the deaths are from secondhand smoke alone. about one out of every five people will die from tobacco. it is the number one preventable cause of death in the united states. and smokers die on average a decade earlier. now, it's especially prevalent in the south and midwest, states like oklahoma, arkansas, kentucky, meanwhile, states like utah and california actually have the lowest smoking rates in the country. now, since 1965, cigarette use has dropped considerably in the united states, from close to 40% in the mid '60s down to about 20% today. but look at recent years, since 2004, the rate has barely dropped. and some years it's actually gone up slightly. this troubles health officials

who are trying to further lower this number from 20% to about 12% by 2020. now part of the reason for this, more young people are trying the habit. every day 3200 kids smoke their first cigarette. 5.6 million kids alive today will die from smoke. more than the entire population of colorado. the young are a big focus for activists because, tony, almost no one starts smoking beyond the age of 25. >> and you were telling me a moment ago it's not just cigarettes, it's cigars as well. >> surprising, cigars are popular with a lot of high school students, one out of every five high school boys smoke cigars. >> wow, did not know that. jonathan betz, appreciate it. thank you. for the second time in week, winter weather is wreaking havoc on much of the country from the midwest to maine. snow and ice has fallen today some places we'll see up to a foot of snow. new york, new jersey, and other states have declared states of new jersey. a paul is with us from new york. up and down the east coast at

about this hour, people are beginning to make their way home and in some cases trying to cope with power outages. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, tony. up and down the east coast as you mentioned really from indiana all watt i to maine, we have winter weather warnings. here just outside of penn station peopling making their way to the trains and buses it's inconvenient, slushy and slippery but the power outage that his you mentioned, that situation is much more serious. across pennsylvania more than 750,000 people are without power. more than half a million of them homes and businesses in the suburbs of philadelphia. the cause, by and large, downed power lines, dragged down by heavy snow and freezing rain. pico. the major power supplier for the area is warning it may be days before the power is turned back on. they have requested some 500 line crews from neighboring states to assist them. state emergency management

officials are now meeting with local leaders to see what is needed to provide food and shelter from those left in the dark. and they are keeping a sharp eye on another storm forecast for the weekend. in new york city the second storm in just one week left sidewalks clogged and made driving treacherous. governor andrew cuomo told reporters the seemingly relentless succession of winter storms that left new york city's salt reserves dangerously low. also low budgets to pay for the winter cleanup. >> we are already $66,000 over budget because of the storms this year. >> reporter: in con governor daniel milloy is urging residents to stay off the roads completely. >> it's messy, a very heavy snow, packed in places and local roads are in terrible shape. >> reporter: travel by air isn't much better in the northeast and chicago, flight awaraware.com reported nearly 5,000 flights delayed and up to 3,000 canceled. the storm will likely dump up to a foot of snow in new england

for some it's a welcome treat and a day off from school. but as the cold of night sets in, many pennsylvanians and others in the region are wondering where to go. how to stay warm. and how soon their power will be turned back on. tony, across pennsylvania, local officials are telling people to look out for their neighbors, see if they need help and let people know warming centers will be open in high schools, community centers, places where peek can go to stay warm and safe. here in new york governor cuomo mentioned and marida blas yo as well blood centers are running blow. asks people to donate blood if they can if they can make the trip safely. tony. >> paul for us in new york city. appreciate it, thank you. dave warren is here with the possibility of another blast of the winter in the coming days. are you kidding me.

>> meteorologist: possibility. we still have to get rid of this storm first, this storm, we have the snow, ice, the rain, all of it coming in to some areas having a little bit of everything. and that really caused the problems, talked about this yesterday how this warm air would come in and that would melt the snow, but then freeze before it hit or when it hit the ground. that's sleet or freezing rain, big problems as we are talking about ice accumulations quarter to a half inch, enough to bring down a lot of power line, tree limbs, temperatures now above freezing had rain falling on top of the ice, on top of the snow. that was clogging up a lot of storm drains so flood was a big problem. watch the intersections here the temperatures will drop overnight tonight back down below freezing. one area of low pressure yesterday brought up the warm area another area of low pressure developed off the coast that kept the cold air in, now everything is clearing out. this one is weakening, this one is strengthening, moving way. so we will start to see things drying out overnight tonight, but getting cold early. no nothing really coming in

thursday or friday. stop it there and show you the temperatures, but we have cold air coming in. so temperatures will be dropping. now watching closely how the next storm develops. the latest trends continue to show its strengthening off the coast well off the coast, but still giving a lot of snow to other new england. timing looks like saturday, sunday or monday. all this information comes in throughout the day we look at updates and update. >> thank you, dave. efficient it so much. the vatican says a report released by u.n. today on the catholic church sex abuse cries it is distorted and affair accusing the vatican of systematically turning a blind eye for decades while priests sexually abused children. simon mcgregor wood has more. >> my apologize, the wrong piece there, we will get that piece and maybe run it right after our conversation with our guest. because it's important

information contain independent that piece. joining us now to talk about this new report and what it means for the church is father tom reese a senior analyst for the national catholic reporter an independent catholic publication. good to see you, thank you for your time. i want to jump right in on this one. the report find the vatican, i just mentioned, systematically adopted policy that his allowed priest to his molest, rape, thousands of children over decades. what is your reaction to the u.n. report? >> well, i don't like that particular language. it's not like the vatican was encouraging priests to go out and do this. now, i mean that's silly. what the vatican and the church did was a very bad job in dealing with these priests when they got involved with abuse. that i was tragedy. this was terrible what was to these children. the now, the most part, these actions took place in the

'60s, the '70s, the early '80s. >> father, you just said a bad job, is that understating the issue dramatically? >> of course it's a bad job. it was a terrible job. >> better. >> you know, these -- we should have responded to and dealt with these priests ride rite way. now we have in place policies that say any priest involved with abuse should never be allowed to be a priest again and is thrown out of the priesthood. in the last -- >> should they be turned over to prosecutors? >> the church policy is that the church, the local churches are to follow the laws of the local area. just as j.just this monday i had to go to a class here in washington, d.c. where we were reminded of our obligation to report any allegations of abuse, any cases of abuse that we became aware of. i mean, this is the policy in the united states right now.

you have to report to the police any case of abuse. >> father i want to to stand by i want to run that piece and then more questions. >> reporter: the haven't a dead -- they are not willing to recognize the scale of the program or take responsibility for it. it accuses it of policies amount to go a cover up. >> the holy see has consistently placed the preservation of the reputation of the church and the protection of the perpetrators above children's best interests. >> reporter: the report lists many failings and has many recommendations. the church is still moving guilt a boozers from perish to perish to avoid prosecution, that must stop. there is still a code of silence whether it comes to reporting abuse, that must stop too. all known and suspected abusers must be removed. and reported to the police whenever they are.

the church must pay compensation and provide rehabilitation to victims. pope francis has set up a new commission to deal with it. the committee says he must call on outside help and everything must be made public. the. >> the credibility of the church will always be at stake unless there is possibility of having total zero tolerance towards predator priests, protecting children to the hilt, all the protection that they need and they deserve. >> reporter: the report's tough stance will be welcomed by victims of abuse worldwide. the committee numbers them in the 10s of thousands. >> for so long, we have been disbelieved. for so long we have been criticized because the church said that we were only after money or we were anti-catholic. >> reporter: this is a real clash of cultures between the u.n. determined to uphold the rights of the child and the

vatican. a higher ar hierarchy instituti. can pope francis change the atmosphere in to i change in the secretive culture of the catholic church. simon mcgregor wood, al jazerra, geneva father reese is back with us. boy in, that report there, it was noted that the moving of abusing priests from perish to perish continues. that has to stop, doesn't it? it has to top. >> my response to that is name names. tell us, where and we'll take care of it. we'll remove them. the policy of the holy see. the policy of the church is zero tolerance for abuse anywhere in the world. if it's not being implemented, then we need to know about it, we need to enforce it, we need to do it. but these sweeping allegations, i just -- they are not helpful. the policy is zero tolerance of

abuse by priests anywhere in the world. >> -- that's the policy of the church. >> and it can stand by that position because the church and it stated it publicly, the church doesn't believe that it can control the abusive priests. the practices of these priests. the question is, first of all, should it do more? can it do more? >> if the church knows that the person has been -- the priest has been involved in abuse, it can fire them. you know. i mean, this is -- but it has to know that they are involved in the abuse and the local bishop has to implement the rules and regulations and policies that have been established by the holy see. by the pope. so -- >> so the suggestion, is father, reese, is that all of the files on this issue you need to be opened up. and that perhaps even there needs to be an independent investigation with access to all of the files, connected to this

issue you, and then a proper investigative body can connect the dots perhaps in a better way than the church has to this point. >> well, i think that there should be much more transparency. there should be much more information given out. you know, when it dribbles out little by little, this does no one any good. i would like to see more of that done. and i have no problem with that. >> so did the report, did the report in your mind go too far in challenging the church to review cannon law, actually in the areas of contraception and homo sexuality? >> well, this commission is supposed to be dealing with the rights of children. i don't know what abortion and homosexuality has to do with that. this -- these -- you know, this is a committee of the united nations. it's not the united nations. there are disagreements among states in the united nations

over these issues of abortion and homosexuality. the church is strongly against any discrimination against homosexuals in employment, in treatment in society and education. you know, the church is against homosexuality activity, just like it's against fornication and people having sex outside of marriage. that doesn't mean we hate them. the pope has been very clear that we love -- >> absolutely. agreed. father reese, speaking to the pope. this report comes out and there is a criticism obviously from the catholic church from the vatican about the report calling it unfair. but my question to you is it time, is there pressure now as a result of the report on this pope to move forward even more aggressively with the commission that it formed in -- that was formed in december and to seriously get to work on these issues? >> i think it's very -- that commission is very important

because what it's trying to do is bring together experts from all over the world to find out best practices for implementing the policies that the holy see has established to make sure bishops are on board and they have the policies and procedures in place. the rest of the church can learn from the mistakes made by the american bishops. you know, and we don't want to make those mistakes again and again throughout the world. we need to make sure that we have everybody understands this problem and is dealing with it. and i think that's very important. >> father reese, terrific. thank you for your time. good talking to you. >> thank you. >> father tom reese a senior analyst for the national catholic reporter. thank you, sir. the autopsy on actor philip seymour hoffman's body is inconclusive. they need to do more tests to determine what killed him. police have been investigating this as a suspected drug overdose, dozens of heroin packets were found had his

apartment. police have arrested four people in drug charges possibly related to his death on sunday. coming up on al jazerra america, vcs's news to stop selling tobacco products means a $2 billion hit to the bottom line. so how will the company be able to afford that? and expect to be hacked if you are going to olympics in sochi. why experts say it's very likely. and what yo you can do to protet yourself.

♪ ♪ welcome back, everyone, to al jazerra america, it could be a major setback efforts to expand the panama canal. construction worked today today after negotiations broke down, alessandro has more now from the panama canal 78 the international group of comes in chargcompaniesin charge of the n suspended work on wednesday this is after negotiations over $1.6 billion in costs overruns have broke down. this is the biggest setback in

the or ambitious project. we are talking about one of the biggest infrastructure operations in the world that will allow ships more than double the size to move through the canal. both sides are blaming each other here on the stalemate and at risk are the over 10,000 jobs of the people working on the expansion right now. and of course, the revenues of the nation of panama. but furthermore, also a risk are a big part of international commerce, international shipping companies are very eager to have the bigger ships be able to go through the canal and every delay is a big setback for them. also major countries around the world, including the u.s. and china have already spent billions of dollars to expand

their ports. the administration of the canal says they are ready to take over the operations and they are promising they will finish one way or the other the project in 2015. but many observers here think that is way too optimistic. ♪ ♪ owe wall street stocks slightly lower after a weaker than expected report on private sector hiring. the dow falling a tick over five points, breaking news from twitter. we just got the social media sites first panel report since going public. twitter surprising some analysts by showing a profit of two crepts a share in the fourth quarter and revenue topped he is are estimates. but investigators seemed disappointed by the growth in the number of active users, let's bring in monica a partner in a new york investment firm. good to see you. >> great to be here.

what's your take on the numbers. >> exciting expectations, a 2-cent profit is good. but with all the their valuations are built on a hope and prayer, will they get big, monetize all the users and make money at some point. >> right. >> and so there is a lot of wiggle room in these numbers, but i think for twitter this is good news not bad news. >> so not some of the analysts seemed disappointed with the number of new users come online, is that a concern for you? >> i think it should be a concern because at the end of the day the one thing twitter has going for it its icer base so it needs to continues to show appreciation of that user base and then they have to be able to show how are you going to make money. >> right. it looks like it will be mobile. so we have to get to the big story today. cvs and the decision by cvs stores 7600 around the country to eliminate all tobacco products, what do you think of this? what's your reaction to it. >> it's interesting. but if it's a one off decision

to get rid of tobacco, i don't know how you justify yourself as a health care company when you have aisles and aisles of chips and soda and candy. because 70% of americans are overweight and obese, and this is a huge epidemic for anyone who is concerned about healthy nation. >> is it tough to call yourself a health care company when you are selling a known cars that ct gin. you can make that case that you just made about chips and drinks, but cigarettes? >> which vice say bigger vice to you? many would argue 200 million people in america are overweight and obese, versus 48 million who smoke cigarettes it's a huge concern for anyone thinking about cardio haves dollar disease, cancer, et cetera. >> are they looking ahead to health care space. >> that's what i think pointing in a new direction, going towards the mod. european pharmacy where

basically what you are getting is medicines and advice from the pharmacist. >> monica, we are flat out of tile. i wanted to ask you about the jobs report and adp and that report and we are flat out of the time of good to see. >> you good to see. >> you come back and see us again soon. two days before the olympic opening ceremonies and there is new criticism overbay rights in russia. activists protesting the country's harsh laws comparing them to games held in nazi germany. and west virginia governor says the water is safe after a toxic chemical spill but not all experts are convinced.

♪ ♪ welcome back. here is a look at our top stories. big decision from cvs, announcing it will no longer sale cigarettes and other tobacco products at its section

600 location as cross the country rich. the change will happen october 1st, it stands to lose $2 billion of revenue each year. a storm has left hundreds of thousands of people without power, 600,000 homes and businesses in the philadelphia area don't have electricity. a number of highways have been shutdown and hundreds of schools are closed. the vatican says reports the u.n. released today on sex abuse in the church is distorted and unfair. the human rights commit a excused the vatican of systematically adopting policy that his allowed priest to his rape 10s of thousands of children, then the pope to open its file on pedophile priests and the people that helped conceal their crimes. the automatic on actor philip seymour hoffman's body was inconclusive. medical examineers need to do more tests to find out what caused his death. police expect it was a drug overdose, dozens of packets of heroin were find in his apartment.

today has been set against a global day of action defense the anti-game sochi winter olympics. protests were held in st. petersburg, paris and london. the london rally took place in front 10 downing street. the russian government has been under pressure because of its negative view of game people. it's not the only criticism is it facing, rory reports. >> reporter: sport is not the only thing on show in sochi, far from it. until the first ski is clipped oregon hockey puck is struck, russian security has the stage pretty much to itself. so policemen are on the streets, and military boats patrol the black sea coastline. it's a deliberate show of force, and this is why. the threats from armed separatist groups based in the troubled north caucus us add today jitter sentment about the games and claims that russia couldn't protect them. experts think they have done

enough. >> most probably attacks on olympic athletes or guesting would be impossible. and i think the terrorists would prefer to terry out an attack on less protected places, these places are unfortunately based in the south of russia. >> reporter: two suicide attacks on the transport system last december suggest this is, indeed, achievable. then there are threats of a different nature. on tuesday, the austrian olympic committee said it received a letter saying two of their athletes would be kidnapped in sochi. similar letters sent to their sruvariouscountries olympic coms turned out to be a hoax. there is a huge multi-layer security here, involving drones, zone or systems and some 100,000 personnel. it will make sochi very hard to attack. though nothing can ever be 100 percent safe. and, of course, until all of the competitors and spectators are back home safe and sound and sochi has returned to normality,

russia won't be able to boast that it's put on a trouble-free games. if that is achieved, though, there will be immense satisfaction here and many russians will point to all the worries as just so much western scare mongering, but that is a very big if. rory al jazerra, sochi. >> here is the thing, spectators at sochi are also facing threats that their digital lives will be hacked by the russian government and local criminals. jacob ward is in san francisco for us and jake, good to see you, why the sudden fear for those traveling t to the winter games here. >> russia has none of the quaint laws that we have about privacy. anything you do digitally within the borders of russia legally belongs to the russian government. so there is really no prohibitions there, plus russia is really a center of cyber crime. the recent target breach seems to have original nateed in software developed in russia and cyber hacking and mobile hacking

has respite tone an art form in that country. >> what steps can travelers take to better protect themselves while they are there. >> the best strategy that cyber security officials have described to me is to try to take a step 10 years in to the past. you know, don't bring your current electronics with you and, don't behave the way you would at home. you have to assume that anything that you do digitally in russia will be expose today somebody that you don't know. and so in my case, for instance, i would leave behind my daily iphone and bring an old one. if you have one kicking around in your drawer, reactivate it. wipe it clean and bring it with you. you also should avoid why identify, you should never plug in to anything that is local. don't charge off of the hotel's little charger there. use your credit card, typically that has the best protections. in then you don't want to get on to the network. if you can get by without post on the ground twitter or facebook you should because everyone is going to be collecting that information. >> all right, jacob ward

appreciate it. good to see you. that's a good warning. timely too. federal investigators say there most likely won't be any long-term effects from the west virginia chemical spill and the governorrer is leading a campaign to reassure residents to use the waiter once again, but many are still sticking to bottled water, robert ray joins us live. we have talking about this over the last ku78 of days, there has been a lot of public mistrust about the safety of the water. what did the governor have to say specifically to address that today? >> reporter: good afternoon, tony. the governor came out for the first time with all of the different officials from the different at i agencies today at seemed it would put together somewhat yesterday. centers for disease control flew in this morning with individuals from the ep actual. tkpwufrplter came out first and made it clear that he is frustrated and angry along with the citizens and that he thinks that the water is safe. that he is drinking the water. that he assures us that his

staffer is drinking the water. we pressed him a the bit on that. and said, well, mr. governor, are you 100 percent sure? he said, well, i am not 100 percent sure that the water is safe. but i am still drinking it. he also went onto say that he doesn't believe there is any adverse long-term effects to the public. now, other officials from the centers for device control were there, one. lead scientists who flew in this morning, here is what she had to say. >> based on what we know, it seems unlikely that there will be any long-term effects. and that is based on the fact that the exposures were short-term, that information that we have about people who have come up and complained of different symptoms were generally mild. and that even those who were hospitalized were those patients who had underlying conditions. >> reporter: now, tony, also they went to say that they were

working on an analysis of health symptoms from people that have gone in to the emergency rooms here. they have a team of toxicologists that are looking at that. hoping to have answers in the coming months. also, one other interesting thing, one of the gentlemen who was standing in the crowd there with all of the different officials about five people down from the governor, dr. rah hall gupta, he is the director of the health department here. he's not quite sure that the water is safe, al jazerra talked to him earlier and here is what that gentlemen had to say. >> live, unwilling participants in an experiment that we still don't know a whole lot about. the impact of this chemical on humans. so from a short-term off a long-term perspective. i think it's -- we have some levels of safety that we consider safe as declared by the cdc and the state officials, but we all know that the real safe levels are zero. that's really what the safe

levels are, what should have been the pre-spill levels of the chemical. >> reporter: so the epa also at the press conference they said that the spill site on the elk river is stabilized. they continue to do water testing at the governor's request and they noted several times within the press conference they are not the lead agency. that the governor's offers is the lead agency. they are taking direction from him and his team one of the big concerns over the past few diess is whether or not the water has bonded to pipes in the homes, in that has occurred, maybe that's why the smell keeps occurring in homehomes and schools, many journalists were pressing the governor ore that, we also as well, pressing him saying if that's the case and if you are the lead, then please, if you could, since you are the boss here, tell the other agencies to perhaps start taking samples from inside the homes, we'll see if he took the advice of the many journalists in the room and

the citizens here in west virginia. tony. >> okay, robert ray for us in charleston, west virginia. robert being thank you. we told but this new report from the congressional budget office about the affordable care act, we told but it yesterday. it says that the law could lead to the equivalent of 2 million fewer jobs by 2017. we need to sort this out and talk about it some more and what it really means. zachary joins me now from wash dc, he's the washington post white out report, he good to see you. lets me say this to you, big disclaimer here, i read it yesterday and i am not sure what i was reading today i am not sure. keep me honest and set me straight. can we blow past the spin. what is the take from the cbo report. >> the bidder takeaway in the most neutral terms possible is that the affordable care act

obama care will have an affect on the labor market in the coming years, now how you want at that actually characterize that effect is difficult. the cbo said, again, in neutral terms, that the affordable care act will reduce the equivalent of 2 million or more full-time workers over a number of years. that doesn't mean it's 2 million people, though, that's the equivalent of 2 million full-time workers which could be 8 million people cutting their hours by a few hours each. it could be divvied up in a lot of ways and you can spin it in a positive or negative way. and the truth is, it's probably a bit of both. the negative spin is that basically another pose of social welfare, a safety net expansion that will create more depend is a and make people give up work, give up working and instead rely on the government for helpful the positive spin, however, is that some people if you are poor or have a lot of kids at home shouldn't really work if you need the government's help and if you are only working and

ignoring your kids because you are desperate for health care, it would be good if the government helps you little bit to take care of your kids. the positive and a negative spin, with the actual truth is hard to know. except to know that there will be an impact on the labor market. >> so zachary, if employees have the freedom to -- if employs have the freedom to work reduced hours voluntarily, who is to say some companies out there won't start reducing their workers hours and telling employees to go to the marketplace and get your health insurance there? >> right. so that is possible as a an effect. and that might happen. but what the cbo said that could happen, but it wouldn't be a major effect. the cbo's modeling and the models they use are very complicated. i don't totally understand the models, you have to be a ph.d economist to truly understand all the math met i cans but their basic model based on how

social welfare works is that the main effect would be workers choose to go cut down on hours or quit jobs or stop searching for jobs because of the availability of the government subsidy. >> i think i understand it a little more, i will need a more more hours, zachary is the washington post white house reporter. appreciate it, thanks for your time. afghan president hamid karzai is deciding whether or not to sign a controversial new law condemned by women's rights activists. the afghan apartment approved a bill preventing family members from accused family members of acting as witnesses at their trials. critics say that would make it difficult for prosecute crimes committed in the home. north and south korea will allow family divided by the korean war to meet for the first time in three years, reunions will happen between february 20th and the 25th in north korea. they were supposed to be reunited in september, but pyongyang accused korea of planning war drilled and canceled the meetings. the two countries have been at

odds since the korean war ended in 1953. anger, simmering in thailand. is actually getting worse. the opposition says the prime minister's government is corrupt and must be replaced and new apartment parliamentary elections are not stopping mass protests veronica pedroza reports from bangkok. >> reporter: an attractive women in a role up to now only been played by men. when she was first elected as thailand it was spun as a sign of progress, now she's at the sender of a bitter identified to control the country. mass protest says against her government even tried to obstruct elections. as you can see the crowds are nowhere near as big as they were at the beginning of the bangkok shutdown, that doesn't mean, though, thattal language and vitriol being poured out at stages like this one at protest sites is getting any weaker. in fact, women's rights groups have complained about the sexist

language being used against the prime minister. here referring to a tv game show called smart lady, the top opposition leader says if there was a competition for dumb lady, no one else could compete. much worse abusive and sexist language has been used by the opponents. >> translator: don't worry, you've still got time, you are not too old to become a pin-up model as you have not reached the menopause. >> reporter: some protesters dislike the hate speech too. >> translator: as a woman i think it's really harsh, it must be the last straw to say such thing. >> reporter: not just the last straw but possibly an omen of things to come. >> we are seeing protesters calling their enemies in the governor as nonhuman.

and therefore they don't deserve to live anymore. this is a very dangerous indicator of an ongoing and then escalating confrontation includes vie len confrontations. >> reporter: nine more inning flam tore it's verbal abuse, the more likely it is there will be worse violence, veronica pa droves, a al jazerra bangkok. a death in north dakota highlights a crisis thousands of face this is winter, maria joins with us that story. and other headlines across the country. maria. >> thanks, tony in north dakota authorities want to know if a propane shortage contributed to a woman's detective. she was found dead in her home on the standing rock indian reservation, the propane tank used to heat the home was empty after a night of below zero temperatures, a national shortage of propane has doubled prices and left those who use it to heat their home struggling to stay warm. at least 10 states are thinking

of legalizing or extending online gambling. gambling compliance an organization that tracks gambling legislation around the world says the states are considering bills on internet bet this is year. nevada which allows online poker main even be expanding in to other types of internet betting. in milwaukee, prosecutors have arrested three people in connection with the threat of a valuable strait fair us vie le . thieves used a stun gun to take it from a concert master, police say charges against the three will be filed as soon as. the violin is valued at $5 million. finally the red hot chili peppers came clean today. >> the band admitted they sang to a prerecorded instrumental track during the halftime show. viewers noticed that the groups guitars were not plugged in,

that's what the nfl wanted in a statement on their website. the peppers said they didn't plug in the guitars in because they didn't want to fool anyone. >> they have those packs, that you can do it remotely. >> and the audience always find out. always. >> it's the folks at home keen this these things, but the first tip-off is the guitarist was losing his mind, was he playing any of those six strings? i don't think so. maria, thank you. >> you are welcome. that's my rant for today. david beckham announced today that he's formation new major league soccer team in miami. and he gets to buy the expansion team with a big discount a tam. just $25 million. wow, that's still pretty pricey, natasha is miami. relatively speaking comparatively when you think about teams ike barca and what they go for or man u, beckham is getting a pretty sweet deal here, isn't he?

>> reporter: let's compare it to the owners of the new york city team they paid $100 million. but keep in mind, beckham is going to pay a hefty price for a stadium. not 1 cent is going to be paid for with taxpayer money. there is no name for this team yet. they don't even have a site for which a stadium might be built. the hope is that it will be downtown miami, but miami is buzzing with the news. and mostly it's based on the global celebrity i have david beckham. he was gracious and said today this is a personal passion for him and also a dream. >> it's something that as a kid i never dreamt of doing, all i wanted to be was a soccer player. the fact that i have had the career that i have had and now that i am an owner it's kind of surreal. >> reporter: so major league soccer actually had a team from

1998 to 2001 here in miami, it was called the miami fusion. but to cut costs in wake of 9/11 when the league was struggle, they folded the team. the so there are a lot of challenges and questions that people have, which is will the team succeed, where the fusion did not succeed before? this is already an over saturated sports town. distractions a bound, namely the beach and the night life here, we asked beckham how he planned on addressing those challenges. >> the league is a lot more stronger now than it was 10 years ago. the sport is a lot more stronger. and a lot more exciteing in this country than it was 10 years a ago. this sty ready for a soccer steam. >> reporter: despite the own known, he tell us united states that he has been receiving texts and phone calls from players saying they want in. >> do we know when the team will be ready to hit the pitch?

>> reporter: we don't, they have to come up with the money to build the stadium and as i said they don't even have a site to build that stadium. but everyone here agrees that they need to strike while the iron is hot and they need to get the team on the field as quickly as possible. >> that tar for uthat tar for u. coming up, shaun white drops an olympic event, why he says the course is just too risky? and from missing hotel room knob doors, to brown water. the complaints about conditions in sochi are piling up. gun control... the gap between rich and poor... job creation... climate change... tax policy... the economy... iran... healthcare... ad guests on all sides of the debate. >> this is a right we should all have... >> it's just the way it is... >> there's something seriously wrong... >> there's been acrimony... >> the conservative ideal... >> it's an urgent need... and a host willing to ask the

tough questions >> how do you explain it to yourself? and you'll get... the inside story ray suarez hosts inside story next only on al jazeera america

al jazeera america. hundreds of thousands of fans have swarmed the streets of

seattle deservedly so, right, to celebrate that team, the seahawks and that big super bowl win, the seahawks won their first super bowl in history sunday in a lopsided beat down against the denver broncos, the two-mile route wound its way through the heart of seattle passing the space needle. the world's most famous snowboarder has announced that he is pulling out of a new olympic event, shaun white issued a statement saying he would not take part in the slopestyle competition because of the risk of injury. white also known as the flying tomato, says he will concentrate on the halfpipe where he will have a chance to win his third straight title. nice gold medal too. sochi is the talk of social media today with people reacting to shaun white's decision and much more. maria is back with that, maria. >> tony, this is what the course for the slopestyle looks like. a snowboarder from russia posted this online. and some athletes are

complaining that the rails are too close together. that it the landings are too short. and the slopestyle involves just the most difficult tricks with the highest ampl amplitude off e jumps. but some athletes have really criticized shaun white's decision, max parrot a canadian snowboarder he earlier sweeted out shaun white nose he can't win the slopes that's why he pulled out. >> that's trash talk there. >> very much trash talk. he erased the tweet and later tweet third degree i am sorry if i offended anybody i just meant that it's not as fun to compete at the olympics when the riders under lights aren't there. >> he's apologizing because he got beat. >> gretsch up wrote everybody slamming shaun white should take a step back and be grateful for all the olympic exposure and opportunities he's create forked slope. what has really got a lot the exposures are the hotels for the reporters. >> are we back there again. >> today they have been tweeting

out more stuff. spa and fitness center at the grand hotel. you get in shape by putting it together. [laughter] >> and then a polish reported tweeted this, this is his room. this couch is wrapped in plastic here and we are not sure what this is. >> what is going on? >> and then vickie a sports writer wrote late to the party but this light fixture crashed at the foot of my bed on the second note of the hotel. take a look at this one from dan at yahoo sports, to anyone in sochi i am now in possession of three light bulbs will trade for a door handle. this offer is real. >> terrific. maria, appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. >> a look at the day's top stories when we return, this is al jazerra america.

al jazeera america gives you the total news experience anytime, anywhere. more on every screen. digital, mobile, social. visit aljazeera.com. follow @ajam on twitter. and like aljazeera america on facebook for more stories, more access, more conversations. so you don't just stay on top of the news, go deeper and get more perspectives on every issue. al jazeera america. this is al jazerra america live from new york city, i am tony harris with a look at today's top stories. another winter blast, millions of americans feeling the brunt of triple-threat wheather we are talking about ice, rain, snow. the storm is already pounding

parts of the great plains in the midwest, nearly a million peope across the country don't have power. cvs says it is phasing out the sale of cigarettes and all to be toe products at its 6600 stores across the country a move they say will cost them $2 billion a year. president obama applauded the move. the unites nations today demanded the vatican academy now to remove clergy known to be child abusers in a report released today the u.n. is critical of the vatican's policies on abortion, continue accepting and homosexuality. the church says the report is distorted and that they are committed to protecting children. the new york city medical examiner's office says it needs to do more tests to figure out what killed actor philip seymour hoffman. last night police arrested four people in new york on drug charges, the new york times reports the charges stem from the investigation in to the actor's death. and billy jean king the head of the delegation to the sochi olympics won't attend after all because her mother is sick.

king who is onlily game is an outspoken opponents of russia's anti-gay laws. russia passed a law banning game propropaganda last june, those e the head likes, i am tony aries, "inside story" is next on al jazerra america. >> higher prices cracking down on youth sales, tougher and tougher health messages all had a role in reducing smoking. now another idea, how about making smokes hard to buy at all. that's the inside story.